Matt Wallner sounds really interesting but not a ton out there on him..

_________________

MarkJohnson>You wrote:

Yeah, and if you're using the "He's 19" logic, then I guess the best report a scout could give us is:

"I have no idea. He's a teenager. He may go through 5 arm surgeries between now and his 30th birthday. He may add a pitch. He may lose a pitch. He may put on 30 lbs and add velocity. He may put on 50 lbs and eat his way out of the league. I literally have no idea what he is going to be."

But thats not what these guys are paid to do, nor what we are looking for them to do, right?

College bat, COF, LHH, huge kid at 6'5 but said to be very athletic, good plate discipline (draws walks & hits for avg), big time power potential and big arm (throws mid 90's on the mound) projected to be taken right after the 2 college catchers, so top 7-10.

So early to look at mock drafts though....

_________________

MarkJohnson>You wrote:

Yeah, and if you're using the "He's 19" logic, then I guess the best report a scout could give us is:

"I have no idea. He's a teenager. He may go through 5 arm surgeries between now and his 30th birthday. He may add a pitch. He may lose a pitch. He may put on 30 lbs and add velocity. He may put on 50 lbs and eat his way out of the league. I literally have no idea what he is going to be."

But thats not what these guys are paid to do, nor what we are looking for them to do, right?

College bat, COF, LHH, huge kid at 6'5 but said to be very athletic, good plate discipline (draws walks & hits for avg), big time power potential and big arm (throws mid 90's on the mound) projected to be taken right after the 2 college catchers, so top 7-10.

So early to look at mock drafts though....

I'll be interested to watch more Wallner this year, but I can tell you that the Collegiate National team has been involved in pitching duel after pitching duel in their exhibitions this summer, and for the most part the bats have been rather silent. Meanwhile, despite being very productive, most of the pitchers on the team do not really have the type of explosive stuff to match the zeroes they are posting. Witt and Rutschman better ball-out, because even though there is always interesting talent, the overall narrative will probably be one of question mark after question mark beyond the top-10. Wallner might be Exhibit-A of this. On the surface I wonder if he's much different than Greyson Jenista. Going by the statline it looks like Wallner has gotten to his game power earlier on, but I think Jenista has the edge in athleticism and speed. Wallner is getting mentioned 10-15 (not much different than Jenista at this time last year), but Jenista falls to 49th in 2018.

Watchin the HS Home Run Derby before the Future's Game. Wish they would do one of the two rounds with wood bats, but still some interesting things to take from it. Here's what I saw watching these guys. Again, the results don't mean much, but its the best view I've gotten of most these guys as we start figuring out who's exciting enough to hone in on as potential first and second rounders for 2019.

Witt Jr- Again, dominating in just about any showcase opportunity that comes his way. Finished first, and will be hitting in the one-on-one during the Big League version on Monday. The fact that he was hitting them as far as anyone else, despite still being a wiry-strong 180ish pounds, continues to speak of having estremely easy-plus bat speed due to his explosive hands. He was one of the guys who could miss, and still put a ball out from left to right-center. His older age, and presence of Adley Rutschman, may be the only thing keeping him from 1-1.

Rece Hinds- This kid's a monster. I expected him to be physical, but is much more athletic looking than I expected. Meaning he's got a better chance at sticking at SS than I originally thought, and he's got a ton of room for added muscle if he doesn't. The swing is so easy, smooth, fast, and powerful that balls just consistently found the walkway above the first level of seats in left. Very impressive raw pop, and I think much with Jo Adell a couple years ago, if he can just get someone to believe he's going to make enough contact, he's going super high. Ended up second to Witt and will face him during the big league event.

Riley Greene- Perhaps the closest thing in this year's draft to Jarred Kelenic? A couple of Kelenic's tools may have been slightly louder, but Greene looks like this year's odds-on-favorite for title of sweet swinging lefty, and the four other above-average tools don't hurt either. As you would expect, almost every ball Greene hit in the derby was to the pullside, which isn't really his game, which made it all the more impressive to watch his quick, short, drop-the-head on the ball and watch-it-fly-out-with-ease, approach.

Hunter Barco- I think he had the least HRs, but still impressive in that he could end up being Brendan McKay 2.0 if he makes it to school. Much more highly touted at the same stage, Barco has the effortless power from a long, loose swing from the leftside. Longterm though, an event like this is very likely just for fun, as he just sat 90-94 from the leftside during the 18U National Championship tournament, and is one of the country's top rated SP prospects. A lot of two-way comparisons to Joey Wentz were thrown around, for similar reasons.

Emanuel Dean- Multiple sport guy, and a little older, and swing data all pointed to a big time power prospect down the road. That said, I expected him to be a bit boxier in build, with a more filled out frame. But he was actually pretty long, loose, and athletic in his swing. Perhaps even sitting right behind Hinds in terms of blend of physicality and fluidity. Definitely going to be watching more of him from here on out.

Tyler Callihan- Callihan was more bruiser, but his swing is compact and has an athletic, controlled viciousness to it. Not the same upside as Nolan Gorman, but similarities in raw lefty power, a lot of experience at SS with plenty of arm to profile at 3rd, similar body-types, and lots of showcase experience.

Hayden Travinski- Big monster of a catcher and looks 30 already. Huge raw power, but looks like most of it is physicality based, rather than bat-speed based. Don't get me wrong, had some very good looking hacks, but seemed to lose his timing a couple times during this glorified batting practice and had to regroup. And despite the overall distances the ball traveled, I felt that his lack of athleticism made it tougher to get enough of them once he left his happy zone. Still though, with that power, and some of the best pure arm-strength from behind the plate in the class, he should keep people plenty interested right up to draft day.

Michael Dixon- Now he's the one who showed up looking like the box-framed athlete I kind of expected Neal to be. 6'0", squat and powerful, and as one of the youngest competitors (youngest, maybe?) there is still may be more filling out to be done, but likely not without effecting the slightly above-average wheels. This was your two-handed grip-and-rip hitter, who's back is probably bruised beyond belief after that showing. Big raw power, and had no problem going anywhere with pitch.... Perhaps not the greatest strategy for a HR Derby, but made for a more impressive viewing.

Right now, 4th from the top/bottom in wins. Unless they completely collapse in the second half, that is about the closest they will get.

Biggest "threats" to their current position are the Padres (+1), Miami, Texas and Detroit (all +2) with Cincy and the Blue Jays (both +4) hovering on the periphery.

Detroit has games against both the White Sox and KC, so they are unlikely to catch the Mets. The Jays have 12 left with the O's, which probably eliminates them as a threat. The ten games the Mets have left with Miami will probably determine if the Mets pick 4th or as high as 7th.

Yeah, and if you're using the "He's 19" logic, then I guess the best report a scout could give us is:

"I have no idea. He's a teenager. He may go through 5 arm surgeries between now and his 30th birthday. He may add a pitch. He may lose a pitch. He may put on 30 lbs and add velocity. He may put on 50 lbs and eat his way out of the league. I literally have no idea what he is going to be."

But thats not what these guys are paid to do, nor what we are looking for them to do, right?

I come here every night looking for something interesting about next year's draft to give me some optimism.

For a second I thought I was losing mind last night

_________________

MarkJohnson>You wrote:

Yeah, and if you're using the "He's 19" logic, then I guess the best report a scout could give us is:

"I have no idea. He's a teenager. He may go through 5 arm surgeries between now and his 30th birthday. He may add a pitch. He may lose a pitch. He may put on 30 lbs and add velocity. He may put on 50 lbs and eat his way out of the league. I literally have no idea what he is going to be."

But thats not what these guys are paid to do, nor what we are looking for them to do, right?

Disappointed to see that Carter Stewart appears to be leaning towards a spring semester at a Florida JUCO. Really wanted to see him develop at MSU. That said, with us falling a little deeper down the board in a draft with elite talent up top, but a little light on depth, not a horrible thing on the Mets side of things.

Yeah, and if you're using the "He's 19" logic, then I guess the best report a scout could give us is:

"I have no idea. He's a teenager. He may go through 5 arm surgeries between now and his 30th birthday. He may add a pitch. He may lose a pitch. He may put on 30 lbs and add velocity. He may put on 50 lbs and eat his way out of the league. I literally have no idea what he is going to be."

But thats not what these guys are paid to do, nor what we are looking for them to do, right?

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 28 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum